Who are conquerors of the unconquerable?

Sid clicked on the search engine as he typed this sentence on Google. In a tick, various articles displayed similar names, but none of them attracted his attention. Tapping his finger on his chin, he mumbled, "Who are they?"

The alarm clock rang a soft tick-tick, tick-tick, tick-tick. It reads 12:00 A.M. Someone pushed Sid's bedroom door open. His mother yelped—not in anger—but with affection. "Happy birthday, sweetheart!" she squealed. His big brother and dad had also come along to wish him a happy birthday.

Sid's eyes lit up and a smile stretched across his face as he was almost forgetful about his own birthday. According to Indian tradition, he sought blessing from his mother and father by touching their feet. It's a traditional way of paying reverence toward elders. His mother hugged him tightly and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Oh, my, my, you're nineteen now. I can't believe you've grown up." Tears welled up in her eyes, slightly smudging her mascara.

"Hey, you've forgotten to touch my feet!" Pratham teased by lifting his left leg up and pointing his index finger at it. Squinting his eyes shut, he managed to suppress a chuckle. Sid strongly reproved it. "Two words for you: get lost!"

These were actually playful the exchanges, because they were more like friends than brothers. Pratham came forward and hugged his little brother. Sid's bones literally squished in the tight hug. "Ow! Get your bulky arms off of me!" he pushed Pratham away.

The messages and phone calls were harassing Sid's mobile to give him birthday greetings. Catching sight of some, he saw it was Sara. Sid excused himself from his family and headed towards his bedroom's balcony. But halfway there, he turned around and said something to his dad. "Dad! Please hire someone to clean up the terrace. I wanna throw a party with my friends there." His dad nodded but reflected it as: did he order me or request me?

As soon as Sid step foot on the balcony he received the call. "Wishing you many, many happy return of the day, bestie," Sara yelled.

Sid formed a pleased smile on his bow-shaped lips. "Thank you so much! You guys have to come to my house tonight," he replied.

"Hell yeah! So tell me, I'm the one who wished you first, right?" Sara asked with great hope.

Sid did not wish hurt her. "Yes," he lied although he was receiving many messages from his other friends and relatives.

Sara hesitated on what she was about to say, she presumed that Sid would be enraged. "Ah, you know, actually Nehali told me to wish you a happy birthday on her behalf since you're not talking to her anymore."

Sid's nose crinkled as he heard the name Nehali. Even when they were conversing on phone, Sara sensed it with an instinct. Her bottom lip quivered as she caressed her silky brown hair. "Please, please, please let her come to your birthday party."

Of course, Sid didn't want to accept her request. He furrowed his eyebrows and after a great struggle he uttered, "If she wants to come."

"Thanks a ton, my birthday boy!" Sara jumped up, excitement chilling her spine. She wanted to hug Sid, but then she realized they had been talking on the phone.

*******

Sara batted her eyelashes as she applied mascara while Nehali was doing her hair. Both of them were getting ready for the party. The excessive fragrance of perfume was strong enough to burn nostril hair, but both girls were unaffected. Nehali stood in front in the mirror, placing her hands on her hourglass-shaped hips. "Do you think Sid will like me in this dress?"

Sara eyes scanned over Nehali's black polka skater dress and a mischievous smile took shape on her pink lips. "Woo-hoo! You still have a soft corner for him?"

Nehali bit her lower lip, letting out a warm pant. "I just can't get over him, and that soft corner will always remain unscathed for him."

Being totally muddled with her past decisions, Nehali dropped down her head and fixated her eyes on the ground. Her heart was guilt-ridden since she never got a chance to explain her feelings to Sid.

"Aw," Sara rested her hands on Nehali's shoulder, "you have a chance today. So just let it out."

Nehali nodded and wiped away her tears. "He's really a nice boy. No one understands him. Therefore, I want him back in my life. But...."

"But?" Sara knit her eyebrows together, wanting to know why Nehali stopped at but.

"He's so different from rest of the guys I've ever seen. And that's what attracts me to him."

Sara titled her head as she received an ambiguous answer. "You probably messed things up. Just choose if you want him or family." According to Sara, for her love, she will desert anyone or sacrifice anything. But the latter didn't share the same nature as her.

"I have responsibility for my younger sister siblings and mentally unstable mother. I'm a daughter of a douchebag, who's having an illicit relationship with my own aunt." Nehali spoke with a shaky voice, which led to more tears.

Sara raised her eyebrows, now understanding all the mental commotion that Nehali has been going through, which made her helpless in taking a wise decision. Nehali pressed her forehead to Sara's shoulder and started sobbing.

"I just don't know what to do..." Nehali looked into Sara's hazel eyes. "Sameer, he's good, but he's always trying to dominate me, and always wants to grope me."

Sara's mouth widened as she listened to this answer, fearing with a thought that she disclosed immediately. "Did he take your V?"

An undetectable expression appeared on Nehali's oval shaped face. Sara tried at the best of her capacity to figure out the answer from that mysterious expression, but failed to come to a conclusion. Nehali leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Let the answer be shrouded in the mystery for a while, unless a proper situation pops up.

*****

A red line was in a race with a white line, but most of the time the white line was a bit ahead of the red line. It was a YouTube video playing on Sid's laptop. He was watching Beyblade episodes online. Of course, there's no age limit to watch this amazing TV series. His mind, however, was mulling over pros and cons of something else: a heart should be attracted to another heart, but were his feelings towards Nehali simply based on superficial attractions? They say beauty is skin deep. Why is there ever need of sex, if all you need is love?

Such incorruptible thoughts are obviously not very prevalent among every youth like him. His introspection broke off when someone knocked on the door. He shook his head and went to see his guests. As he pushed the door open, he caught sight of Ravi, Raj, Sara, Nehali, and Jayashri altogether standing outside his house. His eyes lit up and he beamed as they began singing the happy birthday song. The birthday boy took them to terrace to celebrate. It was decorated with some fancy things in the Indian traditional style, and a buffet dinner was set up, along with some chairs to sit in.

******

As the party being done. Sid gathered up everyone's gift and decided to see them by himself one by one.

"Alright." Sid rubbed his palms together. "Thank you for the gifts. I'll be opening them one by one." He picked up first gift box which was wrapped in a cellophane cover, and he whirled it around to see the name. He cast his eyes on Nehali's name, written in bold letters.

On it was written, "Happy birthday, with love from Nehali."

The words made furrowed his with anger, he plastered a fake smile to his lips. Sid hated to read "with love," as he thought Nehali was purposely getting on his nervous. "Ah... Now, who chip in for gift, your boyfriend?"

The pain that was felt by Nehali could be compared precisely with that of the sting of a Taser. Sid's galling words perforated in her heart. Tears welled up her bottom lid and rolled down slowly. Many of other friends were inflamed with the statement. Among them, Raj couldn't help but lash out. "Bro, it came off really mortifying. You made her cry!"

"A little!?" Sara burst out with anger, "Sid, you must apologize. Right now."

Nehali stood up from her seat to make a move while rubbing off her tears with her palm. Sara grabbed her by the arm to stop her, but she jerked herself free. Everyone set their angry eyes on Sid. He was evading to look at anyone of them.

"Those are crocodile tears believe me you guys." Sid rolled his eyes with hunched shoulders. "We all know her boyfriend takes care of all of her financial necessities."

"Just go and bring her back here!" Everyone shouted at him.

*****

The tears kept on rolling from her eyes. Nehali didn't stop walking, with every long steps, she thought about the humiliation she'd felt, and that's all because of Sid. The tears in her eyes were flowing like a miniature waterfall. 

Sid did follow but when he was about call out her name, the girl she got into an auto-rickshaw, beyond his reach. He knew it was all heat of the moment, his facial expression told another story. Maybe one of remorse. Sid pulled out his cell phone to call her, but then he stopped there and abated that idea.

"Look who we have here tonight," someone said from a distant place. Sid turned around to see who it was. As he caught sight of the person, he grimaced.

It was Pratik.

Within a minute, Pratik and his other friends surrounded him in a circle. Pratik pushed Sid, which had him slightly imbalanced. "Dude! Buzz off. I'll kick your ass another time."

A friend of Pratik wrapped his hands around Sid's neck and said, "Pratik, you should listen to birthday boy."

"Oh, yeah? Happy birthday, Sid." Pratik manifested a fake smile on his face and forwarded his hand for a shake hand, but Sid fended it off.

"Your wish ruined my birthday. I swear, next time I won't be celebrating birthdays," Sid snapped back with a smirk on his face.

Pratik's smile transformed into a frown. "Wait!" he said, "We are here to give you birthday bombs."

This time Pratik pushed Sid with such power that he tripped and fell on the ground. To retaliate, he got up and jumped on Pratik to give him dose of his own medicine, but his friends seized Sid with their hands. Now he couldn't move at all. As they blocked him, Sid realized his strength was not an equal match against those six chumps. This is not a south Indian movie, so he can't fight back alone. Pratik punched Sid hard in the stomach, with the other hand giving him a blow to the face. Sid blocked, but he couldn't retaliate. Pratik kept on punching his face, his stomach, and his chest repeatedly.

Pratik's friends released Sid from their tight grip. As it was loosened, Sid toppled over to the ground. Drops of blood fell on the ground, from his nose, at which he was facing. One drop, two drop, three drop. Realizing Sid couldn't take it anymore, Pratik and his friends began to make a move.

"I'm not done yet. You gotta to wait for my punch." Sid with his shaken and moaning voice spoke up. This did nothing but fueled up Pratik's anger. He rushed at him and kicked him on the chest. As the kick struck on Sid's chest like a baseball, he completely collapsed and lay on the ground, almost unconscious.

******

A/N: C'mon! If someone is Mc of a story that doesn't mean he/she always be victorious. Do you think Sid did it wrong by messing with a badass like Pratik? You have to read next chapter, how Sid will take his revenge. And why I called him a spiritual badass. Get ready for some action.